Tag: Godzilla

Hero Complex contributor Susan King is big in Japan, and so is Gamera. Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s, um … a giant turtle that spins and spews fire as it flies through the air?  That’s right, it’s “Gamera: The Giant Monster,” which destroys everything that stands in its path — save for little children. Aww, hard shell — soft heart! On Tuesday, Shout! Factory releases a DVD of the original 1965 Japanese horror film produced by the Daiei Motion Picture Co. as a direct competitor to Toho Studio’s established monster, the mighty Godzilla. The competition didn’t really go so well for the massive sabre-toothed, turtleshell terror. While the Japanese version of “Godzilla” is actually a well-made, effective thriller, “Gamera” is pretty cheesy with all the seams showing — including visible wires and rinky-dink miniatures. ...

Randy Lewis is back writing for the Hero Complex. Here’s his look back at the Lizard King of Japanese cinema… The 2004 theatrical reissue of the original 1954 Japanese version of “Gojira,” which washed up on U.S. shores two years later in re-edited form as “Godzilla, King of the Monsters,” gave American audiences lots to rethink about the monster-movie classic. With the restoration of 40 minutes of footage deleted for its stateside release and partially replaced with 20 minutes of new scenes built around the insertion of American actor Raymond Burr, as reporter Steve Martin, the movie and its antinuclear theme come through more powerfully, even though Gojira remains an actor in a rubbery suit stomping his way through miniaturized Japanese cities and villages. The original “Gojira” comes to Blu-ray disc this week in a new high-definition transfer accompanied by an illuminating ...